What the hell is this monster?? 【Updated】

Recently, Karapaia, a Japanese news site focusing on the strange and weird, posted a video of what seems to be a giant monster being dug out of the ground in Cambodia. In the video, the long, fat, gray slug-like creature is surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers watching with rapt attention as the horrifying behemoth is hoisted onto a trailer.

But what in the world could it be? A giant worm? An alien aggressor? A genetic experiment gone horribly wrong? The Ghost of Christmas Past??

Well, not quite…

[Caution: Autoplay video beneath the fold.]

***UPDATE*** We previously reported that the “monster” was found in Vietnam. After comments from some of our readers (thank you!), we did some fact checking and consulted a Vietnamese-speaker and found that it was actually found in Cambodia. Here are RocketNews24, we strive to bring you factual, up-to-date news and we apologize for the error. As always, thank you for your readership! And if we ever make a mistake (hey, nobody’s perfect), please don’t hesitate to drop us a line!

First, take a gander at this thing. I mean, seriously, what the hell is that?

▼Should this be pixellated? Are we allowed to show this on the Internet?

And here’s one more to really leave you scratching your head.

▼Tell your therapist we say “You’re welcome.”

Had enough? Not so fast, we have the video for you to check out, too!

Alright, by now you’ve probably have a good idea what’s going, but just in case, we’ll give you our best guess!

The video, which was found on a Chinese site with little in the way of an explanation, is most likely a recording of a beached, deceased whale being loaded on a trailer for burial. Though it seems that the video is actually from Cambodia, it may be similar to a cultural practice in Vietnam. In Vietnam, whales–dead or alive–are considered harbingers of good luck, and fishermen are always happy to see them in their waters. However, when one of them shows up dead, the fishermen will work together to pull the creatures to shore for entombment. The animals are absolutely not to be hunted or eaten.

▼Oh. Yeah. We see it now.

In 2010, when a dead whale was spotted 26 miles off the coast, 10 fishing boats worked together to tow the corpse to land for burial. So, really, this video isn’t anything unusual–it’s just a display of the great love and respect the Vietnamese people have for the sea creatures. In fact, whales are referred to by the Vietnamese people with the same name used for royalty! And, though it may seem a bit strange to bury the creatures on land, apparently shrines are built for the animals, which attract both worshipers and tourists.